I really pushed the envelope with editing for this one taking full advantage of the flexibilty allowed by the expert editing rules. Basically it's a composition of two photographs - one with me in the scene and one of the background only with the camera on tripod and the exact same camera settings for both shots.
Post Processing:
I can't recall the exact sequence of everything I did but I'll try and outline the process as well as I remember:
I used Fluid Mask (A cutout plugin) to make a cutout of myself and pasted it on a new layer which was selectively masked off. This layer was duplicated and the Chrome filter was applied and selectively masked off. The selection path of the cutout was used to copy a part of the background in the shape of the subject onto yet another layer which was also selectively masked (this is the invisible arm) and the smudge tool was used on this layer to distort the part of the arm that's invisible and a slight inner shadow and outer glow layer effect was applied. The color replacement brush was used on the chrome layer to bring in some of the greens so it would look like the surrounding forest is reflected in the chrome. The edges of the background was darkened and some other finer adjustments and details were edited, but that's the essence of it.
I really like this image but I have no idea how well it will do seeing that it probably falls more in the category of digital art than photography, but hey who knows.
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Definitely on the digital art side of the line, but that seems to have been appreciated in this challenge, and this piece seems to have been well appreciated. The idea fits the challenge very well, and it's fairly well executed. Perhaps a bit sloppy in places, but it doesn't really detract from the effect. The model is well posed, and his sense of wonderment clearly shows through his "mask". And I love the colors and the way they are used here.
My main complaint about this image is that the "forest dweller" seems very flat, almost like a cardboard cutout. This is partially from the lighting; there are no shadows to give him a three dimensional form. And partially from the processing, which posterized a lot of the details and eliminated the continuous tones. Perhaps that is what was intended, but to me the lack of realism kills the message.
Campy but lyrical. It reminds me of a movie like Starman that might seem quaint to somebody today but is actually more heartfelt than most of what's in theaters now.
I like how he's amazed at himself. He is the poet transformed by his observation. Is he coming to be or is he disappearing?
I see this more as fantasy than sci-fi, At first glance this is a decent image, but as I continue to look at the details it loses its mystery. This image just doesn't hold together at a closer inspection. It is a fun idea, but doesn't pull it off for me.
Hmm some new cloaking devise, interesting. Please forward the specs of this devise to my government email: Agent_Kawana@FBI.gov :D giving this an 8 lol ;) Good luck
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